


A kingdom apart

by FatedDestiny



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Attempt at Humor, Changbin is bad at feelings, Crown Prince Lee Felix, Drama & Romance, Fluff, Happy Ending, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'd like to think that I'm pretty funny, Light Angst, M/M, Modern Royalty, Mutual Pining, Romance, Royal Guard Seo Changbin, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, basically they're in love but only they don't know, but smut with FEELINGS, changlix, or basically I'm Seo Changbin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:41:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25397098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatedDestiny/pseuds/FatedDestiny
Summary: The brutal murder of a prominent figure sparks rumors of war between the Seo and Lee Kingdoms.As a part of the proposed settlement, the Princess of the Seo kingdom is to now wed the Prince of the Lee Kingdom.Upon the order of king Seo, Changbin is to soon accompany the princess and serve her in her new home, the Lee palace.But what happens when the quiet but fiery Changbin, the royal guard of Princess Seo, finds himself doing more than just serving his princess at the Lee castle? Or more specifically, finds himself falling for his princess’s new husband, the innocent but dangerous prince Lee Yong Bok?
Relationships: Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. The one where Changbin screws up

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for Changlix so yeah..this happened. Anyways, Changbin is just a little dumb and Felix is a confused idiot.

Changbin really should be getting more sleep now that he is on a two-day break from the castle’s heavy duty. Serving the royal family of your kingdom is a big deal because of many obvious reasons and extreme protection during any conflict. However, only a few chosen are able to work for the actual members of the royal family and while this is normally considered a privilege, Changbin begged to differ. It is not as if he hated his job, in fact the pay was good enough for him to survive daily, but it was not the easiest job out there. Especially when you are appointed to be the personal royal guard of the Seo Kingdom’s only princess who is known to be extremely proud and annoyingly spoiled.

He would be lying if he said that he has slept for more than five hours a day in the past one year of officially working for the princess as her personal guard. He was overworked to the max because of her obnoxious and irritating attitude which she liked to call as her defense mechanism. Changbin rolls his eyes at the memory of those words coming out of the princess’s mouth. He was appointed as her royal guard, but he feels as if his role is more of a personal servant who was on duty 24/7. He was finally given a two-day break because the princess has left the kingdom to visit a good old friend of hers in a pretty far away kingdom. Changbin likes to think that he vaguely remembers what kingdom it was when the princess was telling him, but he thinks he was probably too busy having a happiness spasm at the thought of his break to actually bother listening to the princess. 

“Ahhh. This is so nice.” He mutters to himself as he stays lying on top of the roof of a faraway building that no one really goes to. This is the most recent spot he has found while carrying a letter to the post office just a few days ago. This building was used as a hospital back in the days to treat wounded soldiers when a war happened. It was abandoned now though, sitting at the far end of the Seo kingdom and in fact lying right by one part of the Lee castle. The two kingdoms were separated by tall drum towers however, this abandoned building was at a corner where someone could take a quick but effective look at the Lee castle from inside of the Seo kingdom. 

Lying on a high roof that is angled towards the Lee kingdom, Changbin can faintly see a few servants and workers walking around the Lee Castle with food and even garden equipment in their hands.  
Laughing at the fact that Lee Kingdom is making their workers do gardening at night, he decides to sit up straight to take a closer look. “Ouch!” Changbin winces at the sudden pain that pulsates across the spot of his right ankle that he accidentally hits and scrapes while getting up. 

“Damn it.” He exclaims before taking out his small torch to offer some light to his wound and to take a better look. He knew it was a bad idea to not wear any shoes but really, he would rather not take the risk of his shoe getting caught by some hole or edge while climbing up and landing on his ass at such ungodly hours.

As he switches on his torch, he could see beads of blood already rolling down his ankle on to the bottom of his foot, making him curl his toes in pain. It was nothing compared to the numerous accidents and wounds he has gotten from fights to sword practices to even spearing. But somehow, Changbin always had a weakness when it came to smaller wounds. Sounds crazy but that’s him. 

Knowing that this was his cue to get up and head back to his room, Changbin hastily and carefully places his right palm on the roof and allows his limbs to stretch a bit before getting up. In his standing posture, he could get a clear view of the Lee castle in its best form. By now, the servants and gardeners that he saw earlier were nowhere to be seen, leaving the castle in a silent night spell with the occasional hooting of the owls.

Changbin takes a careful step towards the edge of the roof that’s connecting to the balcony of the abandoned building while trying to maintain his best balance. He somehow manages to lift himself halfway and support his weight on the leg placed on the balcony when he hears a rustling of leaves and a low tune of someone humming a very pretty tune. He opts to ignoring the noise, assuming that it is a random person in the castle taking a night walk and continues his struggle to get his other leg on to the balcony.

He’s almost fully inside the balcony when suddenly an annoyingly bright flashlight is lit in his face. “What the heck?” Changbin, still hanging on to the balcony, shouts in the direction of the light. He tries to see who is flashing the damn light right in his face only to stare into darkness because the light is too bright to see anything.

“What are you doing on the roof at this time of the night”? A cold and deep voice speaks from the bottom and in the direction of the light. Changbin freezes at the tone of the stranger’s voice and immediately stiffens up as he knows that this was not a voice he recognized. He wasn’t doing anything wrong by laying on the rooftop, but he knows well that such activities sometimes could be suspected as spying especially when you have another kingdom next to yours. And the position he was caught in wasn’t the most innocent one either.

“Um..I’m the personal guard of the Seo Kingdom’s princess. I was just laying here watching the sky.” He manages to speak a few coherent words and hopes that the other would believe him. 

The flashlight goes off and a silhouette of a person becomes his view instead. Changbin cannot make out what or who the other is as it’s still pitch dark. “I believe you. I apologize for the sudden intervention. It was truly not my intention. If you thought that I suspected you- “

Changbin cuts the other off mid-sentence. “Hold up Mr. Apology accepted. However, I must say that you acted quite irrationally by not only flashing a whole ass flashlight in my face for over a minute which by the way was clearly blinding my vision, but also assuming that I was suspicious.” Changbin knows that he’s being real pissy about literally nothing and yet him being a Leo, he wants to fight a little. Yeah, not the best idea at 2:00 am.

He hears a loud cough from the bottom and a clearing of throat. He closes and opens his eyes a few times in the hopes of taking a look at the stranger only for luck to be on the same side as darkness tonight. 

“Listen. I didn’t mean to keep the flashlight in your face for that long, I just wanted to make sure that you were not trying to sneak into our castle at this time of the night. I apologize and I will be taking my leave now.” The deep voiced stranger says and Changbin should be satisfied. However, his heart sinks and his stomach churns at a specific part of what the stranger has said.  
The specific part where he said our castle. Did that mean he was from the Lee castle? Changbin is screwed. He thought that it was someone from his own castle who suspected him of being a Lee person sneaking into the Seo castle. Oh, how the tables have turned.

He needs to make amendments before the stranger goes ahead and ruins his life. Not only has he talked back to the stranger in the most arrogant way, but he was also looking like a spy trying to sneak into the Lee castle. His dumb self who never has control over his mouth even mentioned that he was the princess’s guard. How stupid of him.

So, he decides to put on his sweet boy voice and make things right. “No. Please don’t say sorry. You did the right thing by intervening and making sure that such suspicious activities are not going on. I truly was just gazing at the sky as today is my day off. I just happened to find this abandoned building which coincidentally turned out to be lying right next to the Lee castle. In case you were watching me for a while, I was struggling to climb onto the balcony because I scraped my ankle and that shit hurts. But other than that- “

He’s interrupted by a high-pitched laugh which not only startles him but also surprises him as the last thing he expected from a person who bore such a deep voice was to have a laugh like that. He should be mad that he was cut off, but he mentally thank the stranger because he sometimes just doesn’t know when to shut up. 

Yet another a cough and the man starts talking again. “I already said I believe you. Don’t worry about it. For someone working for the princess, you sure do talk a lot. But, about that wound, are you okay?” Changbin rolls his eyes at the other’s mocking tone but finds no venom is his words so he just let it slide and answers his second question instead. 

“Yeah well. Not wearing shoes wasn’t the best idea I guess. It’s not bad even though it stings a bit. Just a bit of alcohol and a band aid should do.” He says while shrugging his shoulder. He then lets out a small laugh because he knows that the stranger can’t see anything he does. 

“Sure. Go ahead then. Be careful on the way.” The stranger says.

To say that Changbin is shocked is an understatement. “What? I’m a grown man who knows how to be careful. You seem too concerned about me for someone who just met me. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ll get going then.” Still shocked at the stranger’s weird comment, Changbin once again places both his palms on the edge of the balcony, takes a deep breath and jumps sideways bringing both his legs up which eventually gets him inside the balcony. He wonders if he should take his tiny torch to take a look at the weird stranger but decides against it.

He’s almost near the stairs leading towards the courtyard when he hears the other man shout something. “My name is Lix by the way. We probably won’t meet again but I hope you get better soon.” And with that, he hears the same rustling of leaves as before, leaving Changbin in the eerie silence of the night.

Lix. What a strange name, he thinks. That was probably just a nickname because there was no way that anyone in the republic of south korea was named Lix. He continues to say the other’s name a few times, the name rolling off his tongue easily, as he continues to walk back to his room. He likes the sound of the name Lix. He doesn’t know why but he hopes that he could see this Lix again someday and of course, under different circumstances.

× 

The screeching noise of the town bell is what wakes Changbin up the next morning. He shoots up straight in his queen-sized bed, yeah the perks of serving the princess, and rubs his eyes with the back of his palms. Random emergency bells were normal in the kingdom, but they usually stopped after about twenty seconds. Today’s bell has been going off for over a good minute and as Changbin puts on some decent clothes at the speed of light, he can’t help but panic at the possible announcement that is about to happen. He knows that long bells mean nothing but a big disaster. He realizes that he is right, the moment he steps out of his room and sees over a thousand people gathered at the inner ward of the castle.

With quick steps, he manages to make his way to the front, through the crowd of sweaty and visibly distressed people. His heart sinks further as he looks up and spots none other than the king himself make an appearance at the drum tower’s second floor balcony.

After the thousands have bowed down to the king including himself, the crowd goes silent, giving the king the cue to start talking. The king scans the crowd intensely before he announces what Changbin thinks is the most spine-chilling news to ever be heard in over a hundred years.

“We, the Seo kingdom have been accused of treason of the Lee kingdom’s army general around 4:00 am. News came early this morning around 5:00 am and we have no time to spare. You all know what this means. War has been declared by the Lee kingdom against us.”

It doesn’t take that long for the dead silent crowd to start gasping and even wailing at the sudden news. 

The king continues. “Before everyone worries too much, we have a great solution to this. War is never an answer and there’s still no solid proof that the murder was committed by a Seo person. Of course, if proven right, the said person will receive correct punishments but in order to avoid a possible disaster, our royal family has decided on a deal with the Lee kingdom.”

Changbin’s ears shoot up at that. He always have known that their king was powerful, but he never realized that the king was this powerful. Committing a crime against a neighboring kingdom is a very deadly and serious crime which is never taken lightly. These things could result in years of bad relationships and business. So, when the king mentions that he signed a deal with the Lee’s, Changbin is indeed astonished. He wonders what this deal is.

As if to answer his question, the king is already opening his mouth to let his people know. “This deal has already been made and there will be no objections from any party. We will be giving our daughter Seo Ji Soo to be wedded to the Lee’s crown prince Lee Yong Bok. This is the only way to settle peace. For now, there is nothing to worry about so I would suggest that everyone go on about their lives as before. I recommend that no one spreads false rumors as those could stir up a lot of unwanted trouble. Again, if anything, I will be keeping you all informed. Have a great rest of your day.” And with that, the king is already gone.

The crowd starts talking all at once and the previous decorum is nowhere to be found. The king’s deal is the last thing Changbin has expected and now as he’s squeezing his way through the hurriedly dispersing crowd, he can’t help but feel uneasy about this. Once he is back in his room, he takes a seat on his armchair and lets his mind wander. True, he dislikes the princess from every bone of his body, he hates how she always bosses him around even after his official duty, he even hates how he has to listen to the princess rambling on about how much she hates the castle. But, he still has a soft spot for the princess as he knows that she didn’t choose this life where she is always surrounded by guards with no ounce of freedom. 

The princess is arriving only tomorrow, which means that she doesn’t know about the news yet. Changbin feels really bad for her. It’s none of his business but he can’t imagine how it feels to have someone else make all your decisions for you and your opinion is not even counted. He also wonders what would happen if the princess objected. Then again, the king has mentioned that, there would be no objections which clearly included the princess’s opinion.

His train of thoughts come to a halt when he hears a sudden knock on his door. He shouts a quick come in before leaning back further in his armchair. 

His best friend Jisung walks in and Changbin is already up and running towards his best friend to welcome him in a bone crashing hug. The other reciprocates by wrapping both of his hands around Changbin’s back and laughing at him for being such a baby.

“Aye. You missed me that much Binnie?” Jisung asks. Jisung has been appointed to be the queen’s temporary assistant as her usual assistant has suddenly fallen ill. 

Changbin nuzzles his nose into Jisung’s neck and just nods his head. He indeed missed his best friend. To have someone you spend every day with leave you for two weeks is a big deal for Changbin.

He hears Jisung laugh again before tightening the hug. “Mhm. I got released yesterday evening and was planning on coming to see you yesterday itself, but I had to go back home to give mum some money. I saw you walking back to the room after we were dismissed and decided to follow you. How are you Binnie?” 

Changbin reluctantly pulls himself away from his friend before dragging Jisung to sit on his bed. He’s so happy that Jisung is back because he missed talking to him and sharing his worries with him. Jisung was too smart and wise for his age and always had an answer to all of Changbin’s questions.

“I’m okay Jisungie. I just have a bad feeling about this whole marriage thing. You know how much I hate Princess Ji Soo, but I also do care for her. I just don’t know how she’s going to take the news when she comes back. Couldn’t the king have at least talked to her about it before making such a big decision for her?” He truly doesn’t understand how someone can be so cruel.

He hears Jisung sigh next to him. Jisung takes his hand onto his own and draws little circles on his palm. This always calms Changbin down and this is why he just loves Jisung so much. 

“I know you’re upset and scared. But really Binnie, this is none of our business. Yes, we work for the royal family but things like this are only matters between them. She’s going to be really mad, but what can we do? I just hope she doesn’t take it out on you though.” And Jisung is right. Princess Ji Soo having a bad day meant, Changbin going through it as well. 

Changbin scoots closer to Jisung to lay his head on the other’s shoulder. He feels Jisung adjust his position to give more access to Changbin to lean comfortably. He closes his eyes and breathes slowly and decides to forget the whole thing for a while. The princess is arriving only tomorrow and whatever chaos is about to go down will be tomorrow. So, he decides to just let it slip his mind and enjoy his day with Jisung today. 

“Jisungie, I only slept for four hours last night. I thought that I could sleep more since the princess is gone but no, I ended up sleeping past two and woke up to that damn emergency bell.” He whines to his best friend.

He feels Jisung softly massage his head and he smiles to himself. “Well, what were you doing till two in the morning anyway? Don’t tell me you were lying on top of some rooftop watching the stars.”

Changbin hates how Jisung knows him all too well. “Yeah yeah you’re right. Sometimes I feel like you know me more than I know myself. Oh my god. I met this weird stranger last night. He was from the Lee castle. I was trying to go back down from the roof when this dude flashed a light in my direction and suspected me of being a spy. Tch.” Jisung just laughs and says nothing. This gets a reaction from Changbin.

He playfully punches Jisung on the tummy and pulls away to look him in the eye. “Yah! It was weird okay? I scraped my ankle while crawling back onto the balcony and when I mentioned that to him, he told me to be careful on the way. What kind of a weirdo? Did he think I was a kid who needed his mummy when he got a wound?” 

Jisung looks at him in disbelief. “Wow Binnie, you are truly overdramatic. The dude was just looking out for you. Seriously, you’re such a drama queen.” This earns him another small punch but this time on his arm. “Did he say his name?” He asks Changbin, giving him a roll of his eyes at the punch.

Changbin ignores Jisung’s look and wonders if he should just say the stranger’s name to Jisung. Maybe Jisung knows him because Jisung knows everything. 

He gives it a try. “I couldn’t see his face at all because it was pitch dark. But he said his name was Lix. I don’t think- "

Jisung’s sudden reaction and shriek has him scared out of his mind. “What the hell was that for?” He pushes Jisung away from him.

By now Jisung is standing up and fanatically fanning himself with his hands. So much for the person who called Changbin overdramatic a few minutes ago.

“Did you just say Lix? Lix as in Felix?” Jisung is up to something and Changbin feels real uneasy about this. 

“I don’t know about Felix, but he said Lix. Now if you would just calm the fuck down and tell me what’s going on, I’d greatly appreciate it.” He tries to grab both of Jisung’s hands in an attempt to stop him from moving so much.

This seems to do the job and now Jisung is looking at him with the most unreadable expression and Changbin is starting to get annoyed. “Jisung I swear to god.”

“Okay okay so I’m not too sure about this and this is something I’ve heard from a friend of mine who used to be a Lee person but got married to a Seo person. But apparently Lix is a nickname for…wait.” But, Jisung doesn’t finish.

Changbin is now staring directly into Jisung’s eyes which have gone wide in realization. “Oh my god Binnie. Did you just say that you talked to a Lee person last night? Does that mean, you were lying on top of a building that was close to the Lee castle?”

Changbin’s no reaction to Jisung’s questions has him shaking Changbin’s hand aggressively. Changbin could faintly hear Jisung calling his name and waving his hands in front of his eyes. But the only thing he could think of when he puts two and two together is how fucked he is and how his death is not that far away.

A sudden hit on his right bicep is what brings him back to reality. 

He visibly gulps before looking at Jisung again. “Oh god..Are we thinking the same thing? Jisung. I’m done for this time.” He feels tears start gathering in his eyes and he assumes that they are tears of fear rather than anything else.

Jisung catches this and next thing he knows, Jisung is wiping his tears with his hands and pulling him to a tight embrace. “No no. Don’t cry Binnie. It’s just a coincidence. The king mentioned that the murder happened around 4:00 am and you were gone by that time. They wouldn’t suspect you of anything, or at least I hope they don’t. Did anyone else see you and Lix- “Jisung goes quiet again and Changbin doesn’t like it. He pulls back from the embrace and gives Jisung a questioning look.

“Look Binnie. I don’t know how you’re going to take what I’m about to say. But one thing I want to tell you is that, if the only person that saw you was Lix, then I’d say the chances of you being accused as a possible suspect is very low. However, I can’t be too sure about it since the so called Lix that you talked to is actually the crown prince Lee Yong Bok. Lix or Felix is his nickname. Now before you freak out- “

Yeah. That was the final straw and Changbin officially loses it.

“Oh god. Lee Yong Bok is Lix? The goddamn crown prince? What? You better be kidding me Jisung. Freak out? Hell yes, I’m freaked out. Jisung you must be crazy to think that son of a bitch wouldn’t suspect me of killing their goddamn army general. I was caught in the worst place and at the worst time.” Changbin is shaking uncontrollably by now and finding it impossible to keep it together.

Jisung is holding him tight yet again and whispering soothing words to calm him down and he hates how it’s working. While closing his eyes and melting into the hug, he can’t help but blame himself for not only talking back to the crown prince like an idiot but also for not realizing what he was about to get himself into when he climbed on that darn roof. Now as he slowly feels himself drifting away into dreamland, he thinks that if he wished to see Lix again someday last night, now he wishes to never cross paths with the man ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix is big sad and Changbin is just...Changbin

Felix should be mad. He should be upset, angry, annoyed, and most importantly frightened. But as he lies on his bed, staring up at the glass ceiling of his room, he feels empty. When his father has announced the news of his sudden marriage earlier this morning, Felix hasn’t said anything besides nod like the obedient son he is and left the king’s room.

Growing up as the crown prince of your kingdom is not what Felix ever wanted. It meant no freedom and tons of responsibility. He also hated the fact that he was the first-born son which automatically made him the next king after his dad. Just thinking about it makes Felix’s blood boil and he kicks his bed in irritation. As if never being allowed to say no all his life isn’t enough, his dad has now signed a deal for him to be married. He’s had enough. He needs a plan to escape this mess.

He just doesn’t know how to execute his plan though. His dad has said that he would meet the princess tomorrow and they will hold their marriage in about a month. He pities Ji Soo too. She definitely has no say in matter as well, he thinks.

“Maybe I should just get married and deal with it.” He says to himself.

It is unfair though. How come everyone else had the freedom to choose who they wanted to marry, and he did not? While it’s true that he was never interested in anyone in his twenty years of existence, it’s still up to him to decide who he wants to marry. He lets out another frustrated sigh and decides to take a shower to cool down. He has archery class in an hour, and he is still in his pajamas.

He’s halfway stripped naked when he hears a loud knock on his door.

“Your highness! Are you in there?” Felix rolls his eyes at the sound of his not so favorite servant. He wonders if he should just ignore him and pretend to be in the shower but finds himself walking towards the door anyway.

As he opens the door, he’s welcomed with the annoying face of his personal servant Minho.

“The fuck do you want?” Felix asks, pushing his bedroom door wide open to let Minho in. Usually, no one was allowed inside the prince’s suite while he was in it. The only time people came in was to clean his room and that was when he was out of the room. Minho was an exception.

Felix doesn’t remember when exactly they became friends, but they just click well, and Felix never once treated the other any different. His dad disagreed with this friendship at the beginning with the excuse of no servant is allowed to be friends with the royal family, but Felix has used his innocent boy tactics and convinced his dad.

Minho stares at him with the most muddled expression. He thinks a bit more before opening his mouth. “So, the king wants you in his study right now. Your archery class is canceled today because this is apparently a big issue. And no. It’s not about the marriage.”

Felix is confused. What else would his dad want to talk to him about besides the marriage? “Do you have any idea?” He asks Minho.

Minho just shrugs his shoulders and raises an eyebrow at him. “Did you cause some trouble recently huh?” Felix was always known to the model prince that everyone always admired. From his parents to the families of other kingdoms, all adored him and his perfect behavior. He excelled in all his classes and his foreign language skills were top notch too. He never once disobeyed his parents and always did what they wanted him to do, even if it meant that he was sacrificing his happiness.

But Felix wasn’t dumb. He didn’t do all of that just because he was weak or felt liked he was a dog on a leash. He just knew that if he played his good and innocent boy card on parents, he would be granted some freedom when he grew up.

Unfortunately, this never turned to be the case.

Ignoring the bitter feeling stirring inside his stomach, Felix turns to Minho. “Fine. I doubt it’s anything I did. Possibly some business deal.”

Minho’s unfaltering expression really tells him that it was far from business and he looks away, giving up. “You know Minho, you should try and learn to change your expressions a bit, to make someone feel better at times. One look at you and I only get more depressed.”

Felix loves teasing his friend and immediately watching his reactions. Knowing this, Minho gives him the middle finger and says “Yeah no, not today sweetie. You’re in some deep shit. Get ready and come down in 15 minutes.” With that and an affectionate pat to Felix’s head, Minho is gone out of his room.

“Well damn. I probably am in some sort of shit.” Felix mutters to himself, still unable to figure out something as he forgets showering and changes into some decent clothes before stepping out of his room.

“I couldn’t possibly die so that’s a good thing…right?” he says to no one in particular and every step he takes towards the king’s study feels like eternity but also a millisecond. His heart thrums in his chest and he swears someone could clearly hear it.

When he approaches the study, he stops in his tracks and takes a deep breath and slightly knocks before slowly opening the door.

The king is seated in his purple suede chair and Felix immediately notices an unknown presence in the room. He’s sure he’s never seen the man before, but this doesn’t surprise him as the Lee kingdom was known to hire random personnel at the oddest times of the year.

The king clears his throat to acknowledge the crown prince’s presence and Felix goes on one knee to greet his father.

“Your highness, you called?” he asks, eyes casted on to the marble floor of the luxury study.

“Get up son. And yes, I did. Come and take a seat.”

Felix obediently accepts and sits on the opposite seat to this father and takes a good look at the new personnel who gives him a not so pleasant look.

This sends a shiver down Felix’s spine and the silence is too intolerable. He gathers up his courage and looks up at the king and he’s met with cold, deep eyes that definitely holds many scars, secrets, and stories.

“Son let me introduce you to our new army general, Mr. Lee Shin. He’s going to be serving as our army general from today onwards.” Felix’s eyes go wide in realization and reminder that their former general was…murdered, if that even makes sense.

The said man bends forward at a perfect ninety-degree angle, and Felix resist the urge to laugh.

Felix lets out a small “mhm” to inform that he is aware and has accepted the general’s greetings before turning to the king again.

“I’m sure you didn’t call me here just for this father. What is it that you really want to talk about? Is it something that could be talked about with the general here?” He knows he’s being bold and too direct but if he was going to be scolded to his next life, he’d rather not have their new general enjoying the shit show that was bound to happen. He has a reputation to keep afterall.

The king lets out a hearty laugh and looks at Felix with such fond eyes that his heartrate calms down for a bit. His father could easily tell when Felix was fretting, be it during huge ceremonies where he had to talk business to officials for hours or be it him taking a new class and miserably failing at all attempts.

Felix returns his father’s smile with a small smile of his own. “So, as you know, early morning today, our former general Mr. Lee Jeong In was murdered. I know things such as murder don’t faze us, but this is serious. Someone dared to murder our army general. If they could be brave enough to commit such a big crime, we are not very safe in current circumstances. Do you get what I’m saying Yong Bok-ah?” the king asks.

It is true. He’s not fazed at all by the mention of someone’s death. He has witnessed it all, growing up. Now, he naturally could keep a straight face while talking about a homicide that could have someone else breaking down due to fear and resentment.

Felix nods. “Yes, your highness.”

The king continues. “Which brings me to this. While digging in more to find out how this could have possibly happened, word of mouth had it that several servants saw you near the Seo’s old hospital building last night. Is that true?”

To say Felix’s heart stopped is an understatement. His breathe hitches and he squeezes his left palm with that of his right, an unconscious habit he has adhered to cope with his anxiety.

While thinking of all possible matters that his father could throw at him, this was the last thing he expected to be asked about. He should have known.

He answers nervously, “Uh yes. Yes, I was. I was taking a stroll at night because I couldn’t sleep, and I just happened to go to…..that side.” He visibly gulps and hopes that the king wouldn’t drill him further but of course, that is only in his dreams and reality is harsh.

The king sighs very loudly before taking a sip of his water. “So that is true. That’s not the problem here though. There were many servants who saw you talking to an unidentified Seo person.” Felix knows where this is going, and he swears the silence is deceiving because his heartbeat could probably be heard all the way at the Seo palace.

“Yong Bok-ah, I’m not trying to scare you here. It’s just that the murder and your encounter with the Seo person happened very close in timing and it’s too much for me to let it off as a coincidence.” The king finishes.

Felix is in shock. Is his father seriously suspecting the stranger he met last night as the murder’s culprit? With no proof? He doesn’t know what to reply to his father with.

After collecting his thoughts, he looks his father dead in the eyes before opening his mouth to say, what he thinks is the most he has ever talked to the king in his whole life. “Father, I understand where you’re coming from. The timings are close, but they do not align. Besides, I only talked to him because I also suspected him at first. It seemed that he was just stargazing and was actually on his way back when I interrupted him. I clearly saw him leave. And not to mention, he said that he was the personal guard of the princess. So no, it’s just a coincidence.” He finally breathes.

He hopes his father believes him because if his father was onto a stupid clue from the beginning, he would never be able to find the real culprit. Why Felix was so adamant on clearing the Seo guard’s name, he too doesn’t know. But he’s sure that it wasn’t him.

“Mhm. It makes sense. If he really was the princess’s personal guard, then I believe we could opt this clue out. Don’t be too happy about it though. He’s still under a certain level of suspicion. Anyway, you’re dismissed. You will not speak about this matter to anyone. This conversation remains inside of this room. Understood?” the king asks, in his usual commanding tone that has even Felix’s mother at a loss for words at times.

Kneeling in front of the king again to bid his goodbyes, he looks down. “Yes, your highness. I will be taking my leave now.”

He’s opened the study door halfway through when the kings speaks for the last time. “You will be meeting Ji Soo tomorrow at ten in the morning. Make sure you’re dressed in proper attire because first impression is very important. Don’t forget that this is a marriage that will happen, and you have no say in this.”

Anger boils inside of Felix and he tightly grips the door handle and contains the urge to slam the door shut. Obediently closing the door behind, he runs mindlessly to the same place his dad spoke so suspiciously about earlier.

He could see palace maids look at him weirdly as he runs, almost out of breath and sweating profusely. He wishes he could bring himself to care about their stares, but it never happens.

Once he reaches the narrow gravel path that leads to the back garden, he pauses to catch his breath. He wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his sleeve before resuming to walk to his destination.

Felix treats his small garden like a secret even though everyone knows about its existence. It is maintained well as it’s still a part of the palace, but it’s not visited. Felix remembers finding it a few years ago while running away from his mother after a small dispute which had him wanting to hide and never come out.

Ever since then, the garden has been the place where he’s found a small comforting home in. He kicks off his shoes before climbing onto the little rooftop adjoining the garden. It’s not the tallest building in the palace but it was still pretty high up there, giving him a nice view of his surroundings.

Especially the Seo Kingdom.

*

Once he’s up and settles himself with his back against a pillar, he brings his knees to his chest before hugging his legs. He wants to scream, let out his frustration but something unrecognizable stops him from doing so.

He knows that whatever he does is not going to matter to his father. A Seo person has killed the Lee’s army general. In order to avoid the obvious war, king Seo and his father has made a deal to let their princess marry Felix, the crown prince of the Lees. It was going to happen one way or another. A royal deal will never be shattered unless you wanted all hell to break loose and thousands of lives to be lost.

Felix sighs against his knees. He hates everything, he truly does. He has probably seen the princess once in his whole life. And now they want them married. He laughs at the absurdness of the situation.

What starts as small frustrated giggles leads to a loud maniac laughter which to someone watching would seem questionable.

He’s fully laughing like a mad man when he hears a loud thud which resembles that of a pair of hard shoes meeting a concrete floor when jumped on.

The thud is followed by a series of dismantled grunts and moans which has Felix’s laughing episode coming to a halt.

Concerned, he stands up and walks towards the edge of the roof before scanning the area around for any signs of life. When he spots none, he squints his eyes in confusion.

It doesn’t take that long after though, for a man probably a few inches shorter than him, dressed in full royal guard attire to pop up from the old hospital building to the roof from the Seo palace side.

Felix narrows his eyes at the guard before clearing his throat to get the said man’s attention.

This works as the guard is now fully looking at him with wide eyes, full rosy lips parted a little, letting out small puffs of nervous air, slightly blushed cheeks that has never once shed its baby fat, not so subtle jawline and a very prominent chin. Even though the man is visibly shorter than him, the royal guard attire compliments his moderately built body and he radiates a dark, mysterious yet welcoming aura.

Felix could feel his throat going dry and the wind getting knocked out of him.

The only thing Felix could think of is _“how is someone so beautiful yet so masculine at the same time?”._

Growing up as a prince, he has seen his fair share of beautiful women and men both but this…this was different.

In front of him stands the most handsome and beautiful man he has ever seen and has Felix all weak in the knees and he doesn’t even know him, nor has it been a minute since he met him.

He’s so shallow but this...this was weird.

It takes a whole minute for Felix to regain his composure and he’s looking way too intently at the stranger who seems displeased with Felix’s behavior.

“What has you all shaken up?”

**_The voice._ **

“Oh my god” Felix thinks. He’s so damn sure that this was the voice of the person from last night. There’s no mistake. He remembers people well by their different features and this voice of the guard definitely mirrors that of the man from yesterday.

So that means, this handsome man was the princess’s personal guard.

And if Felix can recognize the man’s voice, then the man could definitely figure out his own voice. So, he gives it a shot.

“Nothing. We meet again huh?” He pushes it a step further and watches in amusement as the guard’s eyes go wide in realization, cheeks bloom the color of roses and he brings both his palms to cover his mouth.

Felix swears he sees the man shake a bit but brushes it aside and just watches the other as he tries to calm down and get himself together.

After what feels like eternity, the guard finally acknowledges him with a small wave of his hands. “Uh..Lix?”

At this, Felix smiles. He has to bite his inner cheek to stop himself from laughing at the tone of the guard’s voice. He seems very intimidated by Felix which he finds funny because despite being the crown prince, most people found him very warm and welcoming and some people even called him sunshine.

He decides to make the other feel a little less tense. “Yes! Lix from last night. Although I’m sure you know by now that I’m the crown prince.” He chirps, a little too enthusiastically.

This makes the guard visibly flinch and Felix isn’t sure what’s causing him all that discomfort.

“ _Is it his title? Is it the fact that he’s seeing his princess’s new husband before her? What is it?”_ Felix wonders.

As if to answer his questions, the guard speaks up. This time with a little more confidence evident in his voice. “Yes, your highness. I’m aware. Please accept my sincere apologies for not recognizing you last night.”

Felix cringes at the sudden formal tone but lets it pass because as much as he finds it annoying, he still is the crown prince and he is to be addressed properly by people.

“No need to apologize….uh..-“ He awkwardly drifts off as he realizes that he doesn’t know the other’s name.

As if on cue, the guard readily takes the hint. “I’m Changbin. Seo Changbin. The personal guard of Princess Seo Ji Soo”

“Seo Changbin, please, do not feel the need to apologize. In fact, I must apologize to you for causing a misunderstanding. If I were to be more specific, I’m Lee Yongbok or as most people call me, Felix. Nice to meet you Changbin.” Felix can’t help but let a dumb smile to be plastered on his pale face and it’s all thanks to a certain guard.

Changbin fidgets with his fingers before looking up at Felix with a blinding and breathtaking smile and Felix is confident that he’s never seen something quite so endearing.

“Is it okay for you to be seen talking to me like this? I was actually very worried about the whole army general case and me being caught by you a few hours before the incident.” Changbin says, worry apparent in his voice.

Felix isn’t so shocked by the guard’s sudden confession. Afterall, Felix has had the same conversation with his father a few minutes ago. He weighs his options and wonders if it is okay to tell the guard to not worry because Felix has defended him in a way or just say the bare minimum.

He decides on the former and gets ready to start his explanation when the guard walks towards the edge of the hospital’s balcony to get closer to Felix. It is way too windy that evening, so he understands.

Felix stares at Changbin for a good few seconds and quickly averts his gaze when he feels the other man look at him. “If you’re worried about being caught talking to me, then worry not. Just because I’m from a different kingdom and I’m the crown prince doesn’t mean that I can’t talk to you. Besides, you’re a high rank official”

Changbin smiles again and Felix thinks that he needs to stop because while it could be the food he had earlier doing its digestion process, it could also be something similar to butterflies in there.

Changbin seems pleased with Felix’s response. “That’s good then. Even though I’ve never really seen you, I’ve heard good things about you. I guess I could tick one off now.”

Felix laughs. “You have quite the humor, don’t you? I guess you could say that being a prince meant that you are required to be perfect whether you like it or not.”

At this, Changbin doesn’t look too pleased but something in Felix’s people reading skills tells him that even though he isn’t pleased, he perfectly understands Felix. He concludes that it must be his own experience from serving another royal figure.

*

The silence between them is somewhat comforting, a slight breeze passing by as they both are pretty high up.

Felix dares to take a look at the guard and is relieved to find that the other has turned his back to Felix now. Felix wonders if Changbin’s life is much easier and carefree and if he has a lot of friends with whom he can play without the constant fear of following principles and codes.

“It must be nice.” Felix whispers absentmindedly.

Changbin whips his head around so fast to look curiously at Felix. “What must be nice, your highness?”

Felix’s claps his mouth with both of his hands so dramatically that he’s sure the guard thinks he’s a mess and a half. “Ah! I didn’t think you’d hear that.”

“Well of course I did. Maybe you should work on not saying your thoughts out loud.” Changbin teases him.

Felix pretends to be annoyed and whines a little. “Is that how you should be talking to a prince?” He tries his best to keep an annoyed face, but it turns out that he’s not the only one who’s good at reading people.

Changbin scoffs and rolls his eyes at Felix. “Tch. May I politely add that your acting isn’t the best either?” And he laughs at Felix’s baffled expression.

In reality, the prince should me mad, but he is sunshine prince afterall. He loved making people laugh and being the reason behind someone’s genuine happiness like right now.

Only huffing and not wanting to agree with the guard’s comment, Felix looks up at the sky. He could see a flock of swans flying in a v formation and the earlier blue skies fading into a massive pink and orange hue.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The guard asks.

Felix can only agree this time with a small “ _mhm”_ and makes the mistake of looking in the direction of the guard.

Under the fading blue skies with the setting sun’s light casted right in the other’s direction, Felix thinks he looks ethereal. His royal cypher shoulder badges glistening in the presence of the sunrays, royal blue tunic perfectly fitted against his body and his natural stance with his shoulders wide and back and feet a little apart was the most striking thing Felix has ever seen.

“You look stunning.” Felix proudly says, before he can stop himself.

Changbin turns to him with the softest look on his face and observes Felix’s figure. He thinks that he should teach him to be a little subtle because the way Changbin was eyeing him from top to bottom wasn’t the most nonobvious way to do it.

“That’s a big compliment coming from you, the crown prince. But thank you even though I believe that this was also supposed to be a thought said out loud.” Changbin laughs.

And Felix stutters, of course before he collects himself because he truly had the need to compliment the handsome guard. “Oh my god, I-I hate you. No, I genuinely think that you look really good.” He has to stop himself from saying more because he just met the man for god’s sake and whatever Felix was onto with this heartbeat going insane was not it as the guard was far from Felix’s reach.

Changbin gives him a funny look before adjusting his collars and grabbing his sword which he has dropped to the floor earlier. “I’m flattered that the crown prince Lee Yongbok thinks that a mere guard looks good. However, I should be taking my leave now. Our princess will be arriving at dawn so there’s quiet a bit to prepare….” He stops midsentence to take a look at Felix with knowing eyes before continuing. “….I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning when we arrive at your palace to discuss my princess’s wedding.”

 _Right. The wedding. Felix is getting married. Right._ Felix’s heart sinks and the earlier bubbly happy feelings immediately gets replaced with that of sorrowful ones.

He assumes that the guard has caught onto this visible change because of his next words.

“Your highness do not worry. I assure you that Princess Ji Soo is a lovely girl. I’m in no place to say anything but you’ll be wedding a responsible, caring, and loving girl. I can tell you that.”

Felix wants to laugh. His earlier questions about whether Changbin leads a carefree and enjoyable life comes to his mind and he thinks he knows the answer. It truly must be nice.

But it isn’t anyone’s fault that he was born into a reigning royal family, so he thanks the guard for his information and politely bids his goodbyes before carefully climbing back down to the garden to walk back to his room.

On his way back he thinks of life outside of the palace walls, he wonders if he would ever be able to escape and go live a happy life where he wasn’t under constant watch or dictation.

Maybe one day, one day, he’ll be able to escape. But for now, he will marry the princess and hang onto it for a little while.

He wishes though, as he reaches his room and looks back in the direction of the Seo kingdom, that he’ll be able to find someone whom he could truly love and care for. And not some arranged marriage planned to escape a chaos.

_It shouldn’t be too much to ask for…right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh..What have I written? But thank you for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> ❤


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